Explosive-engine.



P. v. RBHILL. l EXPLOSIVE ENGINE. APPLICATION FILED APE-18, 1904. RBNEWED JULY 23, 1908.

Patented Dec. 8,1908. v

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P. V. RBHILL.k EXPLOSIVB ENGINE.

APPLIUATIONIILBD APR.18, 1904. BENBWED JULY 23, 1908.

Patented Deo. 8, 1908.

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P. V. REHILL.

iIXPLOSIVE ENGINE. APPLICATION IILEIS A1 1z,1a, 1904. RBNEWBD' JULY 23, 190s.

906,288-, Patented Dee. s, 1908.

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PETER REHILL, OF NEV SUFFOLK, NEW YORK.

EXPLOSIVE-ENG-INE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Deo. 8, 1908.

Application led April 18, 1904:, Serial No. 203,584. Renewed July 23, 1908. Serial No. 445,0'c5.

To all 'whom 'imay concern."

Beit known that l, PETER V. Rin-ULL, residing at New Suffolk, Long Island, in the State of New York, have invented certain new and useful lmprovements in Explosive- Engines, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to explosive engines, and my object is to provide an engine in which a semi-rotary or oscillatory, doubleacting, reversible movement of the piston is obtained, and l carry out my invention by providing the same with an oscillating piston which is adapted to oscillate on a horizontal axis within the limits of about degrees, the power being communicated from the oscillating shaft or axis to a main shaft by means of cranks and a connecting rod. l term the engine double-acting for the reason that the piston is constructed to impart the power of two explosions with each and every oscillation of the piston. I further utilize the expansive force ofV the fuel after the same has been exploded, to addl further to the power of the engine, so that suoli expansive force is added to and co-a-cts with the direct power obtainedv from the explosion of the fuel with which the engineis supplied, be that fuel either a liquid or a gas.

ln carrying out my invention, l employ the mechanism in general as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is an end view of the engine, Fig. 2 .is a side view of the same, Fig. 3 is a sectional view illustrating the oscillating piston within the explosion chamber, and also several of the valves in section, and Figs. Ll and 5 illustrate modifications. Fig. G is a diagrammatic view showing. the duplex phases of a four-cycle engine.

rPhe case A is made of a single casting and chambered as illustrated in Fig. 3, the upper and lower chambers a being for the circulation of water while the lateral chamber a2 is for the passage of exploded fuel from the upper chamber a3 to the lower chamber at. The chambers a3 and at are somewhat segmental in cross-section as illustrated in Fig. 3, and the oscillating piston C' is mounted therein as illustrated, and is provided with the piston packing c around the outer edges thereof.

cy c illustrate piston packing for the purpose of making a tight bearing for the central portion of the pist-on. The heads B end the'crank D at the outer end'of'which is pivotally secured the connecting rodY Gr, the other end of which pivotally connects with the crank pin H' secured to the drivewheel F. ln this mann'erthe oscillations of the piston C are communicated through the cranks D and H to the drive-shaft F, and give to it a rotary motion. Secured upon the main shaft is the spiral gearF2, which meshes with the two spiral .gears I- and I,

which are secured to the verticali shafts Iv2` and 13, suitable bearings for said vertical" shafts being provided upon the head Br and the base E of the engine.

Atthe upper ends of the shafts l2 and I3 are secured spiral gears l4 and l5, which in turn mesh with the spiral gears K and K upon the horizontal shafts K2 and lf3, said. shafts K2 and K3' being suitably supported in the bearings upon the sides of the engine' case A. Each shaft K2 kand K3 has mounted thereon the two pairs of cams 7c, la and c, k', the lobes of one pair being diametrically placed with respect to those of the other pair. Upon the opposite sides of the engine case A are secured the brackets L, four in.'

number, eing located upon each side. These brackets carry the rocking tappets M and N, the adjacent ends of which are designed to engage the cams alc and s, 7c on the shafts K2' andK, suitable rollers being provided upon each one of the tappets, to ob'- viate unnecessary friction by the contact of the tappet with the cams. The opposite ends of the levers are arranged to engage the stems 0 of the several operating' valves, four of which are shown in the secti'onV in Fig. 3.

Inasmuch as the four valves on oneside of the case are identical with and symmetrically located with respect to those upon the opposite side', and four ofsaid valves are shownin Fig. 3, itis deemed suiiicient to describe them as theyl appear in said gure'. Referring to Fig. 2, the location of the Within this base four valves are clearly shown, the two lettered O and O communicating with the upper chamber a3 and the two lettered O2 and O3 communicating with the lower' chamber at. The valves O and 02 are connected by the passage a2 and the valve O3 communicates with the atmosphere, through passage Q and port Q.

As above stated the cams 7c, 7c on the shafts K2 and K3 are directed diametrically opposite to the cams 7;, le. It will be seen that in operation the valves O and O are opened simultaneously, and that valves O and O2 are opened simultaneously, but alternately with the valves O and O3. The valves as illustrated are ordinary check valves provided with the stems o which are guided in suitable packing glands as shown. For convenience in terminology I will designate the valve O as the inlet valve, O and O2 as expansion valves and O3 as the exhaust valve.

|Ihe inlet valve O has mounted upon its stem a lateral arm o from which extends the small rod 02 having upon its inner end the small piston 03 which reciprocates in the chamber p. Leadinginto the chamber p is the fuel tube p. Between the valve O proper and the guide casting P is the mixing chamber p2 which communicates with the chamber p by means of the small tube p3 and with the atmosphere by means of the port p4. The guide casting P is secured to the outside of the casing A by the screws as shown. By this construction it will be seen that the fuel (either oil or gas) may accumulate in the chamber p, and the unseating of the valve O will simultaneously cause the piston 03 to drive such fuel into the chamber 222 where it will be mixed with the air drawn in through the passage p4.

At R, Fig. 2, I have shown a sparking device for igniting the fuel after it passes into the chamber a3. Any desired form of sparking device may be used. It is to be understood that the complete valve mechanism and sparking device as shown in Fig. 2 are duplicated upon the opposite side of the case A, and operates in identically the same manner as that just described. The train of worm-gearing illustrated in Fig. l is so designed as to give a ratio of a single revolution of the shafts K2 and K3 for two revolutions of the main shaft F, thus making the engine a four-cycle engine. By changing the screw gearing so as to make this ratio one to one, the engine can be made a twocycle engine if desired.

It frequently happens that an engine of this character proves inadequate to perform the duties which may be imposed upon it as by requiring more work than the engine was designed to perform. Hitherto the only alternative in such a case has been to replace the engine by one of' larger capacity. This of course has resulted in a considerable financial sacrifice. By my construction I avoid in a large measure such a sacrice, as it is only necessary to provide one or more additional sections like in all respects the case A, and secure such sections to the case A in tandem relation, rst providing a lengthened piston of sufficient dimensions to fit the tandem cases. Additional valve mechanism similar to that upon the case A may be provided on each aditionalsection, the shafts K2 and K3 being suitably lengthened for the purpose; or such mechanism may be omitted if it is found that the valves upon the first section are of a size and capacity sufficient to meet the requirements.

In operation as a four-cycle engine the fuel is admitted alternately upon opposite sides of the piston C into the chamber a3 through the inlet valves O; that is, during the times the piston is receding from the valves. The piston then moves forward to compress the fuel first upon one side, then upon the other side of the piston, and at the respective points of greatest compression; that is, at the instant the piston starts to move away from valves thesparking device ignites the fuel, and the piston 1s driven to the opposite end of its stroke, and at the instant of return the two valves O and O2 on either side of the case are opened by the tappet bars M and N, thereby permitting the exploded fuel to expand further through such valves and the connecting passage a2 into the lower chamber a4, where it re-acts upon the lower partof the piston C to equalize the pressure in said chambers and thereby counteract the resistance oreed by the exploded gas in the upper chamber, and in that measure add to the power of the engine. It is to be understood that this operation is going on on each side of the piston in alternate phases at the same time. W'hen the expanded gas has done its work upon the lower part of the piston and driven it to its greatest distance from the valves O2, the valves O3 are automatically opened by the valve gear, and the exploded and used-up fuel is exhausted to the atmosphere.

From the above description it will be noted that during the admission of fuel to the chamber a3 and the compression of such fuel, the lower chamber a4 will be inactive, but it becomes active and receives the products of the explosion during the third phase of the cycle.

As a two-cycle engine, that is, when the chamber a3 receives the fuel and explodes the same at the beginning of the first phase, and then discharges during the second phase, such discharge passes to the lower chamber a4, and is discharged therefrom during the first phase, so that there is no idle phase for the lower half of the engine, when operating as a two-cycle engine.

lI have found it desirable in some cases to enlarge the lower chamber a4 and oorrey spondingly enlarge the lower portion of the piston C as illustrated in Fig. 4, in order to enlarge the edective area of the expansion chamber and piston.

In Fig. 5 I have illustrated the method which I employ in adding to the power, by couplingy additional chamber sections: A to the main sectional,y and lengthening the piston C to correspond.

In Fig. 6 I have illustrated by diagram the path or passage of the fuel through the engine. The'fuel is admitted at the point O, during the time the piston is going lfrom the point O to l. From l to 2 it is being compressed; at 2 it is exploded, driving the piston to 3, from which point it is driven through the valve 0', passing from O through O2 expansively to 6, from Which point it is exhausted through O3 to the atmosphere. This operation covers the sinuous line at the right hand side of Fig. 6,-

and illustrates the action upon the right hand side of the piston C, as shown in Fig. 3, While the action upon the left hand side of said piston is shown by the other sinuous line in Fig. 6, the like numerals of said figure being used to show the synchronous points of the duplex action upon the opposite sides of the piston.

lllhile I have illustrated a specific em- .bodiment of my invention, I do not Wish to be considered as limiting it to such a construction alone, as it is clear that various modifications might be made Without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. For example, principlesas above described are equally Well adapted to a double-acting cylinder engine similar in general plan to the present type of compound steam engines. Finally it will be noted that it is possible to transform the duplex acting engine which I have above described in detail into a single-acting engine by simply cutting olf the fuel supply from one side and operating the other side alone. I believe this to be a valuable feature of my invention, for at times less duty is required of an engine than at others, and at the same time the engine speed must not vary to any considerable extent. It is then only neces sary to cut 0E the supply from one side of the duplex engine, and permit it to lrun as a single-acting engine. It is possible, too, to dispense with the use of the expansion feature by securing the valves O2 and O3 in open position, and permitting the products of combustion to escape directly to the atm osphere, by means of the passage a2, valves O2 and O3, exhaust passage Q and exhaust port Q.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

l. In an explosive engine, the combination of an explosion chamber andan expansion chamber, a piston having portions operating in said explosion and expansion chambers respectively, a valved fuel port for introducing an explosivefuel into said explosion chamber, means for igniting said fuel after its introduction to saidkr chamber, a passagev leading from said explosion chambei` to said expansion chamber, a check valve at each end of said passage, an exhaust portV leading from said expansion chamber, a check valve in said exhaust port, means for simultaneously unseating the valves in said passage, and means for simultaneously unseating said fuel port and exhaust port valves, said means operating'to actuate said pairs of valves alternately- 2. In an explosive engine, the combination of an explosion chamber and an expansion chamber, a piston having portions operating in said' explosion andk expansion chambers respectively, a valved fuel port for introducing an explosive fuel into said explosion chamber, means for igniting said fuel after its introduction to said chamber, a passage leading'from said'explosion chanr ber to said expansion chamber, a check valve at each end of said passage, an exhaust port leading from said' expansion chamber, a check valve in said exhaust port', valve gear for unseatingV the valvesk in said passage alternately with the fuel and exhaust valves;

3. In an explosive engine, they combination of separate explosion and expansion chambers, a piston having separate portions` operating in said chambers respectively, fuel introduction ports leading into saidv explosion chamber located respectively on opposite sides thereof, passages leading from opposite sides of said explosion chamber to the corresponding sides of said expansion chamber, check valves in said passages, means for unseating the check valves of one side alternately with those of the other, an exhaust port on each side of the expansion chamber, a valve in each exhaust port, and means for unseating the fuel inlet valve and exhaust port valve' of one side simultaneously, and alternately with the corresponding valves of the opposite side.

4. In an explosive engine, the combination of an explosion chamber and an expansion chamber, a piston having portions operating in said explosion and expansion chambers respectively, means for admitting any explosive fuel to said explosion chamber, means for igniting said fuel in said chamber, a passage leading from said explosion chamber to said expansion chamber a valve at either end of said passage, means for operating the valves in said passage to permit the products of said fuel after ignition to expand into said expansion chamber, to actuate the portion of said piston which is inclosed therein, an exhaust port leading from said expansion chamber, a valve in said exsaid explosion to said expansion chamber,

haust port and means for unseating said valve simultaneously with the admission of fuel into said explosion chamber.

5. In an explosive engine, a case comprising a series of sections of 'uniform size, said sections being interchangeable and capable of being secured together in tandem relation, an explosion chamber and an expansion chamber formed in said ease, an oscillating piston within said case having portions operating in said chambers respectively, a fuel port for introducing an explosive fuel into said explosion chamber, a

4valve in said port, means for igniting said fuel after its introduction to said explosion chamber, a passage leading from said explosion chamber to said expansion chamber, a check valve at each end of said passage, an exhaust port leading from said expansion chamber, a check valve in said exhaust port, means for simultaneously unseating said fuel port and exhaust port valves, means for simultaneously unseating the check valves in said passage, said means operating to actuate said valves alternately in pairs.

6. In an explosive engine,the combination of a ease, comprising a series of interchangeable sections suitably secured together in s tandem relation, an explosion and an expansion chamber formed in said case, a piston having portions operating in said explosion and expansion chambers respectively, a valved fuel port for introducing an explojsion fuel into said explosion chamber, means for igniting said fuel after its introduction to said chamber, a passage leading from check valves in said passage, an exhaust port leading from said expansion chamber, a check valve in said exhaust port, valve gear for unseating the valves in said passage and the fuel and exhaust port valves alternately.

7. In an explosive engine, a case comprising two or more interchangeable sections capable of being secured together in tandem relation, an explosion chamber and an expansion chamber formed in said case, a piston bearing located between said chambers, said bearing and chambers being common to all of the sections of said case, an oscillating piston mounted in said bearing, said piston having portions'operating in said explosion and expansion chambers respectively, fuel introduction ports leading into said explosion chamber, exhaust ports leading from said expansion chambers, said ports located respectively on opposite sides thereof, passages leading from opposite sides of said explosion chamber to the corresponding side of said expansion chamber, check valves in said ports and passages, means for unseating the fuel inlet valve and exhaust port valves of either side simultaneously, and alternately with the corresponding valves of the opposite side.

This specification signed and witnessed this 11th day of April 1904.

PETER V. REHILL.

Vitnesses I-IUGo MOMM, HERMAN l/V. NOBLIT. 

